British Airways is moving a number of short-haul routes between London Gatwick and Heathrow airports from late March 2019.

In addition, a number of routes that operate from both Gatwick and Heathrow will be “consolidated” at one airport.

No specific reasons have been given for the changes but it is likely to be due to a combination of commercial performance and operational requirements.

At the time of writing, it appears that not all online timetables have not been fully updated so it may be some time before changes show in the Manage My Booking tool.

Almeria

This route launched as a twice weekly summer seasonal route from Heathrow this year. It operated under flight numbers BA420 and BA421.

It will return next year from Gatwick between Sunday 31 March and Saturday 26 October 2019. Flights will operate four times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. The new flight numbers are BA2790 and BA2791.

Barcelona

This route will be suspended at London Gatwick from 31 March 2019. It currently operates from Gatwick up to three times daily.

BA will increase existing services to Barcelona from London Heathrow Terminal 3 from 49 to 58 flights a week to partially compensate.

BA will continue to codeshare with Vueling on London Gatwick to Barcelona.

Bilbao

This route currently operates from London Heathrow Terminal 3 year-round. It operates under flight numbers BA466, BA467, BA468 and BA469.

From 31 March 2019, it will operate from Gatwick on a summer seasonal basis to 26 October 2019. Flights will operate 12 times weekly. The new flight numbers are BA2684, BA2685, BA2686 and BA2687.

Menorca (Mahon)

This route operated as a summer seasonal route both from Gatwick and Heathrow this year. It launched at Gatwick this year and Heathrow from April 2016.

It will return next year from Gatwick only from Saturday 27 April and Saturday 28 September 2019. Flights will operate six times weekly.

Pisa

This route will be suspended at London Gatwick from 31 March 2019. It operates under flight numbers BA2600, BA2601, BA2602 and BA2603.

BA will increase existing services from London Heathrow from 11 to 18 flights a week to compensate. The route will also transfer from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Terminal 3.

Valencia

This route has operated from Gatwick since November 2015. It operates under flight numbers BA2794 and BA2795.

British Airways has increased frequencies on routes from Gatwick to Alicante, Faro, Lanzarote, Madeira, Malaga and Tenerife for summer 2018. It has also added new routes at Gatwick to Gibraltar, Mahon Menorca, and Palma Mallorca.

BA has started to firm up its new schedules at London Gatwick after the acquisition of more than 20 daily pairs of slots from the former airline Monarch. This is equivalent to an extra 150 flights a week.

BA has had to move quickly as it is required to use the slots 80% of the time or risk forfeiting them.

In terms of immediate actions, BA has added extra frequencies on winter ski routes like Grenoble and Turin in February and March as well as Tenerife South in the February half-term. It has also chartered aircraft and crews from Germania and Titan Airways to operate certain flights. These are now showing as “Operated by ST” or “Operated by ZT” in timetables on ba.com If you have an existing booking it should be clear in the Manage My Booking tool which airline is operating your flight.

Frequency increases on existing Gatwick routes:

In the peak summer schedule (late May to late September), BA has increased frequencies on a number of existing Gatwick routes compared to the previous year:

British Airways continues its successful strategy of summer seasonal routes from London Heathrow with the launch of there new routes from 2016: Biarritz in South West France, Mahon on the island of Menorca and Palermo, the capital of Sciliy.

The airline will fly two times a week to Biarritz from Sunday 1 May, four times a week to Menorca from Friday 29 April 2016 and two times a week to Palermo from Saturday 30 April 2016.

All flights will depart from London Heathrow Terminal 5. Flights are on sale now at ba.com